"An invisible red thread connects those destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but it will never break.” Our red thread journey is complete now that Julia is home. Please enjoy reading about our family now that we are 5. Our adoption trip to China is archived in the November 2005/December 2005 sections.

Monday, September 29, 2008

I followed Tonni's suit and changed up my blog. I really like fall/autumn colors and so this was pretty cool and FREE! LOL! I love, love, LOVE my ladybugs theme that Dawn made for me, but I needed a change.

Anyways...hope you like and Dawn, I still love you! ;-) I just murdered the the old layout! LOL!

Monday, September 22, 2008

FYI, I've got to have some tests done tomorrow. Simple bloodwork, nothing scary. But I hope to find out why I've been so sleepy lately. The doctor thinks it could be chrontic fatigue. Could be anemia. Could be some female issues. NO! I'm not pregnant. LOL!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

It's been a long day for Ju, Cam has football practice which goes past her bedtime, but she wants to go with me. Ok. She finds a notebook and is drawing and writing letters. Cool. About 10 minutes before practice ends, Julia starts to melt. Here's our convo:

Me: Ju...what's wrong?Her: Mommmmmma, (sniff, sniff) I can't do it right.Me: What can't you do?Her: I can't write truck.Me: (wondering why she needs to write truck in the first place)Her: (louder sniff, sniff and tears) I CAN'T DO ITTTTT.Me: Don't worry, you don't need to know how to right truck yet.Her: YES I DO.Me: Ok, Ok...I'll show you. (I write it out, twice) Trace mine, then try it.Her: (Loud cries and tons of tears...) I ca-ca-ca-CAN'T DO IT. Me: (At this point, it's hopeless and we're headed for a full on cry out)Me: Juju, relax. It's ok. Her: WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Ok, this is where I hold her til practice is over. We get in the car, and she proceeds to cry for 9 miles. No Barbie movie, no music, nothing...just cries from the back seat. We get in the house, I take her upstairs and put on jammies. We cuddle and she cries more and more, hard sobs. Finally, she says, "I need to write truck." WTF? LOL! Ok. I take out my "good book", my journal, and she tries to write truck. FINALLY. She gets it. Calms down and says, "I'm hungry." No shit kid, I'd be hungry too if I cried like that. Sheesh. And to think it's all over writing a silly word. I sure hope I don't have a perfectionist on my hands!!!!

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Here are a few pictures of our Moon Festival celebration with the Danielson family. If you didn't know, they are paperchasing their way to China for a son or daughter. :-) (Oh yeah, to all my soapbox special needs friends...they are open to going the sn route and are just waiting for their son or daughter to find them!! lol!) Anyways, we had a nice dinner and ate mooncakes later. We also shared our adoption videos with them. I'm not sure who is more excited me or them! :-) It's just so cool to be able to share what we've learned from Julia and the process with another family. Jess and Tim are into all the neato culture stuff like we are, so it's fun to talk about it.

Friday, September 12, 2008

So last night, Dawn and I are emailing back and forth about a kooky friend and we get side tracked into talking about my craving for chocolate frosting. Well, eventually I gave in and had a few spoonfuls. It was heaven. Pure heaven. Better than sex kinda heaven. Not as good as adopting would be heaven, but close. ;-)

Anyways, today...Julia and I busted into the Halloween Oreos. You know, the ones with cool orange colored filling. Slowly, but surely I slipped back into my chocolaty induced happy place. This brings me to my thought about friends.

We all have friends. Friends from church or work, friends that have kids in the same classes as ours, friends from adoption groups...You know, there are about 3-5 of my closest friends that I've never met! Dawn being one of them. We email usually every day, chit chat about anything and everything and you know, I've never got the chance to hug her and tell her that she means a lot to me. She's always there, ready to listen, ready to kick my a$$ when I need it, ready with a shoulder to cry on, ready with a joke to make me laugh...I thank God every day that He brought her into my life and that she likes the chaos enough to stick around. I am truly blessed.

But then there's my idols...Like Shelli in NC that has a pack of kids. How she does it, I will never know. Heck, she's got a hottie hubby to boot. (Did I just type that out loud?) :-) In that same group is Karen. 7 kids. The giant red van, the cutest kids in the whole world, and she gives me hope that I will not lose my sanity with 3 kids or even with 4. I love reading her blog (when I get the chance!) and she also has a saint for a husband. Sharon and Marty are another couple from our adoption group, they have hearts bigger than the state of Texas. Melissa and Larry (whom we did actually meet in China!) are just too cool. Melissa and I are "cyber twins" in so many ways, she was also a giant rock for me during Julia's adoption!

Wayne and I have tons of family members that are close to us, that I can't even mention them all, but I will mention Shelly...she's my Body Shop Queen. :-) Our kids call her Aunt Shelly and her hubby Uncle Eric even though they are really our niece and nephew. They are Ju's Godparents and the kids love hanging out. Especially during camping.

So to wrap this all up, chocolate frosting and Halloween Oreos lead to thinking of my friends. Go figure. LOL!

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Before each holiday that we celebrate with Julia (Chinese holidays that is... like Chinese New Year, Autumn Moon Festival, Dragonboat Festival...along with her finding date, her birthday, and our Forever Family aka Gotcha Day), I get a little sentimental. The moon festival starts on September 14th this year and we are going to have dinner with Jess and Tim. They are friends of ours who are in the process of paperchasing. (Liz! This doesn't mean we can't do something as well!! :-) )

Anyways, here are a few of my favorite pictures from our trip to China. Get ready for a stroll down memory lane!

This is Wayne, me, Liz, (Brion is taking the photo), our guide Tracy and our driver Mr. Something-I-Forgot. It was taken the last night we were in Beijing and the day before we were to get "the babies!"This is a sign that was in Tiananmen Square for the countdown of the Olympics...

One of FAVORITE round halls at the Temple of Heaven...we weren't actually allowed inside the Temple because they were making changes for the Olympics. Bummer.

Of course, this one needs no words...but....The Great Wall...of China!

This may have been my favorite part, the Marble Boat. My heart just jumped when I saw it. For whatever reason, I just loved this part of our trip.

Our first bottle together. She was so sad that night. My heart still hurts when I think of the pain that she must of felt. The pain her foster mom must have felt as well. I can only hope that my photos have made it back to Director Lu and the foster mom to see how Ju has changed and grown.Our BFF (Best Friends Forever)...

Monday, September 8, 2008

At 8:41pm, on September 8th, 1997...a baby boy changed my world forever. Prior to Cam's birth, September 8th had been a rough day for the Wagner family. Wayne's mom passed away on that date in 1993. Fours years later, it was a day to celebrate. Cameron was 8lbs 10.5oz, 20 inches long and had TONS of black hair. He was healthy, had all 10 fingers and toes, and looked just like Grandpa George Wagner. Cam arrived via C-section which he likes to brag about. (Not sure he really knows what it means other than I have a giant scar!) He also likes to brag that he was named after a character from a movie.

Cameron is a great kid. He loves sports, animals, playing video games, and riding his quad. He's sensitive and caring, he thinks of others before himself (excepted when it comes to his sisters), he's giving and loves to fundraise and donate to worthy causes. I enjoy spending alone time with him. Wayne and I got really lucky with this kiddo. :-)

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Cameron decided in May that he wanted to play football. We encouraged him, seeing how he's got more of a football player's build than a soccer/baseball players body. Practices started back in August, 4 nights a week. Today was their first game. They played Mesick and WON. 27-19. Guess what...I FORGOT MY STINKIN CAMERA. LOL! Actually, we didn't think Cam would play because of his weight. Pop Warner has restricts and we didn't think that he would make it, but he DID! YAY! So here's a break down in a Mastcard-like commercial:

Football cleats, practice uniform and jock strap: $95 dollars on debit MastercardSign up fee to play: $60 dollars from mom and dad's checkbookEstimated gas spent on running Cameron to practice: $70 dollarsNumber of hours Wayne or I has spent watching Cam practice: 38Seeing the smile on Cam's face after winning today: PRICELESS

So, yeah...we're all happy. Cameron's coach was just tickled. He's a former college star player and he's AWESOME! Cam thinks he's just it. We couldn't ask for a better coach. :-)

Next game: Saturday September 13th, in Scottville and I think it's 1:30....I'll let you know!